1 | The Devil's the One Who Tells You There's No Hope

Our chefe is dead. We will be the one who will burn this ship.

“These ships are no ordinary ships. They are addictive.”

They are for spawning. And no one freaks the Tardort. In the hope of Rhoen, Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson.

It's about 30 million dollars. We have our motive.

With the stem of an anchor and the base of the puzzle, Glent Kill, a chess crime. Our Pilots in May, New York, Keynote. Please note, this podcast contains references to physical and sexual assault and graphic to fiction's violence. Listen to discretion, is advised. The views and opinions expressed throughout this podcast are solely those of the individuals

expressing them, and do not necessarily align with the opinions or beliefs of the host or producers.

“It is a hot summer's day in Los Angeles.”

I've been working on the case of a girl who went missing out here for a few years now.

Trying to understand how someone can just vanish.

I'm here with a friend of mine, Rosemary Wheeler. I've been working on the case of a girl who went missing out here for a few years now. Trying to understand how someone can just vanish. I'm here with a friend of mine, Rosemary Wheeler. And we're meeting a guy who found bones and a bloody t-shirt out here, just a few months ago.

Neither of us are detectives, not officially, anyway. Maybe semi-quasi, but even that feels generous.

“Now, we're about to hike into the canyon lands of Melebur, in search of human remains,”

mindful of the fact that whoever left those bones and that bloody t-shirt could still be out here,

waiting. We've got no weapons, no backup. Just cell phones, water bottles, and a whole lot of bugs, pray. In hindsight, something that could protect us from things a little bigger than mosquitoes might have been a good idea.

But hindsight's not going to help us much, now. The trail starts out easy, then it tightens. The brush thickens. The air gets heavier. And before long, we're forcing our way through. Our arm stinging and bleeding from pushing past thick-bramble and heavy branches. I check the signal on my phone. A single bar, probably not enough to make a call, of course.

Out here, if something goes wrong, low, there's no one coming. We're on our own. After about an hour, we find it. A small valley, dry, hollowed out, like water used to live here a long time ago. We climb down and start scouring the earth. There's a way to it, what we're doing. The silence, the isolation. The quiet understanding that we're completely exposed, vulnerable.

The whole thing has been more than a little on edge. So in my phone rings, I nearly jump out of my skin. A glance down at the screen, shaken and a little surprised. The call's coming from a mental home number, and I don't know anyone in Oklahoma.

There are moments in life where you make a decision that feels small, in consequential. You don't think twice about it, but later you realize that was the moment that changed everything. I didn't know it then, kneeling in a dry creek bed, covered in dirt, searching for bones. But answering that call, that was one of those moments. It was the beginning of something else, something bigger.

An investigation that would pull me in deeper than I ever thought possible. And force me to question everything, because if I thought hiking through the melody canyons, if a human remains, was as craziest things could get. Well, I was wrong. Did wrong. [Music]

It's got that old industrial town vibe to it, that a lot of small towns in the great plains of America seem to have. It's this feeling that you can't quite put into words. I mean, this was just right outside of Wewoka. This was a state highway that is a thoroughfare from Wewoka too, or Sassakua. Sassakua is probably maybe 100 weeks, but it's also a town that has another smell.

Originally established by the Seminal Nation in the mid-1800s,

“it eventually became a trading post in regional center for the movement of key goods and services.”

And by the mid-1900s, after the railway came through, Roland H. Smith ruled the town's first commercial oil well, and the population of the town exploded. After World War II, however, oil production floundered. Eventually, there were worker well closed up shop, and the population began to dwindle. Manufacturing and farming continued in the way of bricks, packing houses,

and clothing factories, and cotton corn, cattle. But none of that could replace the velocity of the oil years. These days, with a population of just over 3000, you can still feel the energy of what was once a bustling vibrant regional town, but now that energy feels confined to the old ghosts that linger in the run down facade, and empty buildings. There's a grocery store, a couple of diners, and a hotel in Casino.

It's the kind of town where everyone knows everyone,

and people are always watching.

It can be a wonderful thing living in a town like that. But when it comes to something like this,

“well, it becomes more of a brick wall than a celebration of community.”

Oh, Troy? Hey, man, how are you? You're doing okay. How are you? I'm alright. I'm alright. Let me just turn the volume up a little bit here.

The voice you're hearing, that's Amanda Langston. It's faithy Lee's mom. How's your run? We can't go in so far. So far, so good. How are you? And that's Caitlin, her sister.

That's good. Yeah, pretty much the same, pretty much the same, it's cold and raining here. It's cold here, it's just raining. Okay, hot and raining. Alright, so we need two, I think today.

“It always feels a little strange to talk about the weather with a family who's grieving.”

It feels insincere, almost wrong, like you're disrespecting the whole reason you're meeting in the first place. But I've come to understand that most of the time, that's exactly the sort of thing you talk about.

The loss of a loved one that never leaves your side.

But the world itself, well, it keeps turning. Some days it rains, other days the sun shines. Either way, you still talk about it, because there's always this need to try to maintain a level of normalcy. I guess there's a comfort in a funny kind of way. That's been a little bit nicer than it has been last few days.

It's been like 90 something degrees? Yeah, right, yeah, yeah, that's too much. It's mid 2025. After our initial call, we've traded a few messages back and forth. But it's the first time Amanda, Caitlin and I are officially meeting.

Across a Zoom call, so sometimes the audio is a little choppy. When Amanda first reached out to me, I was a little hesitant. I'm not a homicide detective by any stretch of the imagination. And from the research I'd done on face case, this seemed like a clear cap hidden run. There was just standard press release from law enforcement, seeking information on the driver of a white track.

A couple of grainy CCTV videos, and one, maybe two television news clips. Not being able to help on a homicide investigation was one thing. But trying to help find a single white track in an Oklahoma-sized ocean of white tracks, that was going to be a near-impossibility. But despite my assurances that there was little like a due to help, Amanda was insistent.

She can be like that sometimes, but in the very best kind of way. This wasn't a hidden run, she said. I asked her if that meant she thought the track hit faith intentionally. And her response shook me. I'm saying, it was no track.

And that is why I'm here right now, talking to her about how hot it is in Los Angeles. In the middle of summer, like that's some kind of revelation. I was in LA to cover a week ago, and we had a couple of days of like 95 or something. It was horrible. Yeah, and ours was going to get worse, so we're just playing on it.

Oh, great. I enjoyed the rain while you can. Amanda is tough as now. She's got a super strong bullshit radar. She could spot a lie straight through an Oklahoma storm.

She started asking questions the day-faith died and she hasn't stopped for a second since.

Regardless of the fact that answers haven't even been remotely forthcoming. And Kate learned on the other hand, she's a little softer around the edges. She's cradling a small baby, rushing him and singing a lullaby, trying to get him to sleep as we talk.

There are a hell of a team.

“Look up good cop, bad cop, and I swear you'll get a picture of the two of them together.”

And if you're ever in any kind of trouble, these are the two people you want in your corner. And conversely, if you're the one who did wrong, well, you better hold on to your hat, because they're going to grab you by the collar and drag your kicking and screaming all the way to your penance. Based on statements by the boyfriend, his mother, to OSDR that night, they went to the husband's house and had a cookout.

The boyfriend she's referring to, well, that's Ryan and his mother, her name's Veronica, or Veronica for short. The husband, that's Veronica's husband. Well, most people just know him as smurf. There was drinking involved.

There was an altercation. My daughter and her boyfriend were having a verbal disagreement. She had her own beer in his face. God up and walked out of house. His mother took off after fake outside of the house, scrap fake,

and turned around and that's when the physical patient had started. That night, he stated that a fake had taken off out of the driveway

“from where the scuffle had ended and took off walking down the hut.”

He's sitting on his mom's, the tailgate of his mom's truck, when he saw a trucker trailer go by and then he heard what sounded like a speed bump. And he took off walking down the road to go find her, and that's when he found her laying on the side of the truck. Four tens of a mile from their house in a span of about 10 to 15 minutes, according to him.

He stated that he did not own a cell phone at the time, but he started coloring waving his arms around passerby's, the gentleman that did make the 911 call. It was his daughter that heard the spring and went and said something to her death. And he came out and realized that there was something that happened.

Faith's body was founded around 830 p.m. on the southbound shoulder of Highway 56, a few miles south of Wewoka, just down from the driveway of one of Smurf's neighbors. After his daughter heard screaming and raised the alarm, the neighbour went to his front porch and saw Ryan there signaling with a flashlight. He immediately raised back inside and called 911.

March 28th, 2021, 2034, 18. >> I'm not counting 911, but Dad is from your emergency. >> Oh, wait, 56. Give me some plastic. >> What's going on?

>> There's a lady out front of the highway thing here. Almost in front of my house. Yeah, you have the address. She just decided the highway. >> There's a guy.

>> Yes. Again, when we heard screaming outside, and he's trying to flag over cars, they haven't stopped for him, but she's on the side of the road. Okay, somebody lying there.

>> Okay, I'm on get him headed that way, okay.

“Did he tell you if he was breathing or she was alive?”

>> No, she didn't. I'm better blanket my car and I'm going to run us the road. >> Okay, I'm going to get him headed that way, okay? And if you think it to her and call me back with any injuries I'd appreciate it.

>> Okay. >> But I'm getting help out of that way. >> Okay, thanks. >> You're welcome. >> Okay.

>> After making the first 911 call,

the neighbor drove his car down to the scene, placed a blanket on faith, an angled his car so that the headlights would illuminate her body. When he arrived, he found another man,

dressed in chaps and wearing a tango and hat. He had parked his pickup truck near the scene, and was speaking with Ryan, a man by the name of Bob, who we sometimes refer to as the cowboy, for obvious reasons.

Bob had been heading northbound up Highway 56, and he stopped when he saw Ryan calling out for help. He says that Ryan told him a dopamine had been hit and to go get Smith. And later he reported that he'd only passed

a single other vehicle on the highway, heading southbound that night. A small commuter car that didn't appear to be damaged, as Bob was jumping in his truck, the neighbor asked Ryan what had happened,

and Ryan told him someone had hit faith and driven away. After attempting to render aid, Ryan checked faith's pulse, and couldn't determine whether it was his own pulse he was feeling or faiths.

Ultimately, he made the determination

that she was no longer alive, which led the neighbor to place a second 911 call. March 28, 2021, 20, 37, 18.

[INAUDIBLE]

Okay, she's not breathing or anything.

No. No, she's just face.

“Okay, I still have EMF headed that way, okay.”

Okay. And was the mouse? Was the mouse up there? Was he check why the vehicle too? Yes, he's extremely shook up, but he said that a truck hit her.

[INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE]

[INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] [INAUDIBLE] Okay, and what you had there,

the vehicle. No, he was not. Missy, no her name, Missy, no her. Well, it's her name, that's all I say. Her face, face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was

face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he was face, he Any spell that for me? Sir, please take notes.

Oh, hello, thank you. Where are you, step by the vehicle? In my eyes, I was down the road. She took off working from my mom's husband's house. And she walked down the road.

And I said there for the alarm. And then I took off the road. And that's me. She was okay.

And I took down, I took the first house.

And I did down the highway. And she's on the side of the road. And I heard the truck there. I heard the thump from down the road. And it sounded like there was a bad trailer on there.

I don't know what kind of remember what kind of truck was. But I know, I noticed the truck was the trailer that I hated.

“Could you tell if you can tell a car was just that it was a truck with a trailer?”

I don't remember that car was. But I know it was the trailer on the truck. It was the last one I seen drive by before I heard that night. And it was about, maybe half a mile down the road or so. Okay.

Can you, can I get your name, sir? My name's Ryan. I'm a boyfriend. Can you spell a face last name for me? Me.

Me. A lot. Me. L.Y. Yes.

Okay.

Do you know her dead of birth for me, Ryan?

I'm sorry. I don't know. I don't know. It's okay. I got to help that.

Is that way, okay? Okay. Yes. Hold on. Okay.

Hold on. Okay. Okay. This is the collar. Man.

He's been, yeah. He keeps trying to fly over car for a minute. Two, there's been a couple of people go by. I was trying to get out of here. Okay.

“Did he, does he know how long ago or how long ago you've been in there?”

I just happened. I mean, my daughter, her window was open and hurting yelling. I'm, I'm probably like, 10 minutes to go. Okay. He tells you why Native American African American.

She's Caucasian. She's been a man. She's been a man. Man is how way is so dangerous. I do have diabetes and troopers and EMS still have it that way.

Okay. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. You're welcome.

I don't know if anything changes. Just go to call back. Okay. See you. All right.

Thank you. All right. All right. Thank you. All right.

All right. As they were talking to the operator, another car pulled up to the scene and a woman got out. She asked if there was anything she could do to help and Ryan said no. It was too late. Faith was already dead.

In the meantime, Bob arrived at Smith's house to tell him that Ryan had sent from after finding a dogman to be in the hit and was dead on the side of the road. Veronica, Ryan's mom, apparently interpreted it that Ryan himself had been hit by a car. She grabbed a keys, jumped in her pick up and raced down to the scene. Part of the statements of both the homeowner and the other lady who pulled up according to them.

The entire interaction that she witnessed and not knowing anybody. Veronica pulled up after she had stopped to render eight. She got the vibe that it was all very suspicious. Ryan was called her in and he had started to make a statement and Veronica told him to stop talking. And what also struck a lot of people is that he wasn't coloring for help.

He was coloring she was already dead. How did he determine that she was dead? Ryan stated that he checked her pulse. Thought she had a pulse but wasn't sure because his was racing.

She says, well, I should try to check her pulse.

“But I couldn't tell she had one because of my own pulse.”

Veronica, who's medically trained, is said to have moved face body and also used a flash light to check if face eyes were responding to light. But unfortunately, they weren't. At eight 43 p.m. an ambulance arrived followed by the week of fire department and a trooper from the Oklahoma highway patrol.

They were the first ones on site because when the 911 call came in, it was the side of a highway.

That's under their jurisdiction. So when they got there, they were like, no, they recommended to the. We woke a sheriff to contact OSB. Roughly five minutes later, an officer from we woke a police department. Two deputies from the Seminole County Sheriff's department.

Another trooper in three latinants from Oklahoma highway patrol. And Shannon Smith, the Seminole County Sheriff himself, arrived on site.

“And then a representative from the medical examiner's office.”

And then two representatives from the District Attorney's drug task force. At some point in among all of it, Amanda tells me Seminole nation light horse police also attended the same. Sheriff Smith took the lead and in consultation with the highway patrol made the decision to call in the Oklahoma state bureau of investigation. Or OSB eye for short.

And just in case you weren't counting between the first responders and law enforcement agencies.

That's a total of nine different departments who either responded to the call over independently called out. Special agent Miles Keen from the OSB eye was assigned the case as the lead investigator. He arrived on scene shortly thereafter and faith sister Katelyn and it has been casey got there around the same time. The OSB eye became the primary investigative body on faith's case. And they appear to have very quickly made the determination that faith's death was a hit and run,

despite the fact that highway patrol didn't agree.

“Ryan Runaker and Smith were all interviewed that night, according to Katelyn within the air shot of each other.”

And each one of them told law enforcement the same story, which didn't include the physical altercation between faith and runaker earlier in the night. And yet nobody ever went to Smith's house to investigate. They didn't check for blood, they didn't check for damage. They were a handful of other people at Smith's house for the cookout, and on that night at least, not a one of them was questioned. It was around midnight when faith's body was transported to the Oklahoma City Medical Examiner's office,

and the last remaining law enforcement agents from the Seminole County Sheriff's Department. The other scene at around three a.m. We from a film like they decided upon arrival that night. They didn't think that her her life had enough value regardless of the statements of the boyfriend and his mother. That night, but he just decided they just weren't going to investigate if they didn't collect evidence, they didn't document anything.

They just one that we finally met up with down two days later, three days later.

They had already decided it was a hit and run. Just before we finished on the call, Amanda hit me with one more thing. I didn't get a chance to say before is Brian actually did do Polygraph test. Did he pass? No, he failed.

They said it was like a minus two that he was even telling the truth about anything. Anything? Anything. After the call with Amanda and Caitlin, I sat there for a while. Wait of it all, setting in.

What I'd expected to be a relatively straightforward hit and run was already beginning to look like a hell of a lot more. The more I turned it over in my mind, the clearer it became, this wasn't going to be simple. There were too many threads, too many questions, and far too much left unresolved. I wasn't going to be able to do this alone. I found a friend.

Hello. Hey, how are you? I'm really, really good. What's happening? What's going on?

I have a question for you. How much free time have you got right now? You know, that's probably a good question. It's a lady question. I'll just put that out there.

I just had a call with a mother in Oklahoma, believe it or not, who is looking for some help.

She was down on the side of the highway there.

How old was she? She was 23. Oh, you know, a son and a daughter. The law enforcement initially determined it was to be a hit and run. Looking at everything around this, it doesn't seem like a standard hit and run to me.

“I think there's a whole lot more to this.”

And I thought there is no way I can do this on my own. I'm in absolutely. I will send you through a whole lot of information, and then you can catch up. Oh, great. Okay.

Okay. Thanks for everything. You bet, right? [Music]

Rosemary had been with me a couple of weeks earlier,

hiking through the canyons and mellaboo.

“We'd spent years working together, picking apart the disappearance of a lane park.”

Following leads that went nowhere, sitting with details most people would overlook. Learning slowly had to read between the lines. And if there was anyone I trusted to dig where others wouldn't, to find what wasn't meant to be found

and to see the gaps in a story and start stitching them back together, it was her. And when it came time to put that to the test, she didn't disappoint. You have one unheard message.

First unheard message sent yesterday at 7-15 p.m.

You're not going to believe that, but I've been doing a little bit of digging. And I found something regarding the 911 call. You know, the neighbor is first to call. They are fairly listed, and they're there. However, it appears that there might be a call from another caller.

And though, to see that we initially thought was a first call from the neighbor, are actually not the first call. It said something along the lines of suspicious male waving flashlight trying to slide and go down. And this phone number appears to be a land line two hours away. We had, and actually seeing it, I couldn't even sleep last night.

I couldn't believe it, and I'm like, I'm reading this right, and I'm hearing this correctly.

“I don't want to pick a bunch of things at this point, but I really think that there's something going on.”

What's the thing where they're smoke their fires? And they're smoke, right? [Music] Faith's case is still open, and her killer or killers have not yet been brought to justice. If you know anything about faith, her death, or those who may be responsible,

we'd like to hear from you. Please visit echospace.media/tips, and either leave a voicemail or send us a message. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at Blunt Force Drama podcast. If you're enjoying this podcast, please consider our subscriber optional Apple podcasts,

or [email protected]/echospacepodcasts, where you can access to early episode drops, and free episodes, and bonus content across all of the Echo Space shows. If you'd like to keep up to date with progress on faith's case, please visit and follow the justice for faith-easy Facebook page.

You'll find a link to it in the episode notes. Blunt Force Drama is a production of Echo Space, written and hosted by Troy Taylor. Executive producers of Troy Taylor, Mark Terruly, and Fred Scherzer. A main theme song is "Lose My Mind" by Mayor David Off, and the show also contains audio content from movie gratis.